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Subject* Joseph MARTIN Sr.

<1>
Note* __ ___ ____ A letter written 1 June 1842 by William
MARTIN,
Dixon Springs, Smith Co., Tennessee to
Lyman
DRAPER said "...[he] was an Englishman,
born and
raised in the city of Bristol, named
Joseph
MARTIN, the youngest of three children
(two
sons
& a dau.) of a wealthy merchant of that
city,
engaged in the American trade. William
fitted
off his said son Joseph when young as
supercargo
to Virginia, in order to prevent an
undesirable
English marriage, in a vessel called the
`Brice'. Afterwards he named one of his
sons
Brice in memory of this ship; and the name
has
been prepetuated in the family from then
until
now, and it has spread considerably among
our
friends. He, my grandfather, was a perfect
Englishman. Large and athletic, bold,
daring,
selfwilled, and supercilious, with the
highest
sense of honor. In Virginia he married
Susannah
CHILES, daughter of ____ CHILES, a
respectable
and wealthy farmer of that state. With
this
his
father's English pride became so offended
(as
they the English, considered the Colonists
as
inferior degraded set) that he determined
to
disinherit him; which he finally did. My
grandfather never returned to England, but
settled in Albemarle Co., where he raised
eleven
children five sons and six daughters, all
of
unusually large stature..." "He lived to a
good
old age and died about 1760, leaving a
pretty
good estate. My grandmother was one of the
best
of woman kind her parents of English
descent." "After the death of Joseph's
father
his brother and sister in England showe
the
quality of the stock by offering to divide
the
paternal estate with him. The distance
separating them, however, and accidents of
the
sea, prevented his participation in the
family
fortune."

Note: __ ___ ____ No deeds were found for Martin in
Goochland Co
VA or Albemarle Co., VA.

<6>
Possessor* __ ___ 1733 Fredericksville Parish, Louisa Co., VA,
USA; &
Ambrose Smith ordered to procession all
the
land
of the north side of Turkey Run between
the
mountains & north River & Orange co.
line.

<13> Grant* __ ___ 1745 Albemarle Co., VA, USA; Captain Joseph
MARTIN,
as he was called in the patents, in the
year,
1745, when Albermarle Co. was organized he
obtained grants there of 1,420 acres on
north
side of the north branch of the north fork
of
James River on both sides of Piddy's
Creek,
400
acres on branches of Rockey Creek, and 400
acres
on branch of Piney Run.

<14> Sold: 25 Jan 1745 Louisa Co., VA, USA; to William hale for
800 lbs
tob 100a on both sides of Turkey Run on W
side
of Little Mountains. Wit. by A J Smith,
John
Cook, Joseph keatton.

<20> Possessor: __ ___ 1752 Fredericksville Parish, Louisa Co., VA,
USA; &
John HAMMOCK do processeon all the land
between
wolf trap branch & Albemarle line from the
river
to the mountains.

<21> Marriage* 28 Jun 1754 Ann PULLIAM (1702 )

Bond* 28 Jun 1754 Spottsylvania Co., VA, USA; & Jos PULLIAM
of
Louisa Co. to James, William, David and
John
SANDIGE and Anthony GHOLSHON, bond £300
curr.
"Joseph MARTIN is now going to be married
to Ann
SANDIGE." Witnessed by John SEMPLE.

<23> Witness: 04 Nov 1754 Deed: Ann PULLIAM; Spottsylvania Co., VA,
USA;
wife of Joseph MARTIN of Louisa Co.
Whereas
Wm.
SANDIGE, late of Spots. Co. dec'd., was
seized
of several tracts of land in Spots. Co.,
and
made his last will and testament, 11 Mar
1746,
and by the said instrument did leave to
the
said
Ann, party to these presents, then his
wife,
three negroes, etc., and the balance of
his
property to be divided between the said
Ann, and
his three sons, James, David, and John,
etc. and
his daughter Mary wife of Anthony GOLSON
Jr.
Witnessed by Z. LEWIS, George ATKINSON, &
Robert
GREGORY.

<24> Sold: __ ___ 1755 Spottsylvania Co., VA, USA; of Louisa Co &
Anne
his wife late wife of William SANDIGE,
late
of
Spotsylvania Co., dec'd. to Francis
MERIWETHER
of Spotsylvania Co., Gent. 1/3 part of a
tract
of 150 acres called `Elk Neck' in
Spotsylvania
Co. purchased by Wm. SANDIGE in his
lifetime of
John DAVIS of King Wm. Co. and by sd.
William
devised to his son, William, who sold
it to
the
sd. MERIWETHER. Witnessed by Benja.
HOLLODAY.

<25> Sold: 15 Mar 1757 Fredericksville Parish, Louisa Co., VA,
USA; to
John DAVIS, for 10 shillings, 50 acres on
North
side of Turkey Run, joining Samuel MUNDAY,
John
DOWELL and William HALL, ipart of 626
acres
originally by deed from Thomas CARR
late of
Caroline Co. Gent, Dec'd. 3 Nov 1742.
Witnessed
by Ben BROWN, Jno McCAULEY, Daniel
FARGUSON, and
John CLARK.

<30> Witness: __ ___ 1761 Co. Hist.: Fredericksville Parish, Louisa
Co.
[Albemarle], VA, USA; Albemarle Co.,
Virginia.
Joseph MARTIN lived in Fredericksville
Parish,
Louisa Co., Virginia where he signed his
will.
This was at that time the extreme
southwest
corner of that county. In 1761, after he
signed
his will and before it was proved,
Fredericksville Parish beyond the present
LouisaAlbemarle county line was cut off
and
added to Albemarle Co up to the Rivanna
River.
Fredericksville parish didn't become part
of
Albemarle Co. until after Joseph died.

<39> NameVar: Gulkalu; Indian name meaning tall
NameVar: Brig Gen; Joseph MARTIN received the title
of
Brig. Gen. in 1793 while serving in the
12th
Virginia militia. He was appointed by
Governor
`Light Horse Harry' LEE, in response to a
call
from the Federal goverment for troops to
suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western
Pennsylvaia. Partly because of mutinies
and
desertions in the western counties
(many of
which were in sympathy with the
Pennsylvanians)
his birgade of Virginia troops arrived at
their
rendezvous point of Winchester to late to
be of
service & they were paid off and
discharged
there

Occupation* __ ___ ____ Brig Gen rank held at the same time in VA
& NC.

Anecdote* __ ___ ____ On one of Col. MARTIN'S visits to his
home
in
Henry Co, his wife Susannah (GRAVES)
MARTIN
complained to him of illtreatment she had
received from her brother. Joseph chanced
to
meed GRAVES later at a gathering of
friends,
told him of his wife's complaint, and
publicly
stated that he would overlook the offense
this
time but would whip him if it happened
again.
Enraged, GRAVES sent MARTIN a note
challenging
him to a duel early the next morning.
Joseph
appeared alone at the place at the
appointed
time and found GRAVES together with his
brother
and father waiting there. He pulled the
note
from his pocket, showed it to GRAVES and
asked
if he had sent it, and knocked him down
with a
blow when he admitted doing so, whereupon
the
two GRAVES boys and their father took to
their
heels, leaving the field to the Colonel.
Anecdote: __ ___ ____ On one occasion a wounded enemy Indian
was
tracted to a cave in which he took refuge,
armed
with a rifle, Joseph entered the cave
alone
and
in the darkness located the Indian, killed
him,
and brought the body to the surface.
Another
time, a British agent among the hostile
Chicamauga branch of the Cherokees sent a
party
of 90 warriors out to assassinate Col.
MARTIN,
one of the group going out ahead to shoot
him
from ambush if possible. This Indian,
after
unexpectedly coming facetoface with
MARTIN,
prudently returned to his companions and
gave
this report to their leader: "If you want
Col.
MARTIN killed, go do it yourself. He looks
just
dreadful." The whole party then returned
home.
On one of Col. MARTIN'S expeditions
against
the
Chicamauga his provisions ran low. He
managed to
get word to Nancy WARD, who sent out
several
beefs under Indian escort. A part of
Sevier's
troops came across the beefs, pretended
they
were theirs, and slaughtered them for
their
own
use. Joseph learned of this, drew his
sword,
rode at the head of his men to the place
where
Sevier's party was camped, and forceably
recovered his beef. When two of his men
were
imprisoned by a superior officer for some
minor
offense he took matters into his own
hands,
rode
up with his troops and released them.
Apparently
no notice was taken of this
insubordination
but
it greatly increased his reputation among
his
men.
"General Joseph MARTIN made an invaluable
and
little publicized contribution to the
cause
of
the United States during his service on
the
frontier. It is doubtful if the Revolution
could
have succeeded without his influence
amoung
the
Cherokees. The British strategy to subdue
the
Colonies was to land an army in West
Flordia,
strike north through the Creek, Choctaw,
and
Cherokee country, recrutiting an army of
warriors as they marched, and take
Georgia,
the
Carolinas, and Virginia from the rear,
pounding
them into submission against a second army
of
redcoats to be landed simultaeously along
the
coast. had this strategy succeeded, the
south
would have been overwhelmed and the war
lost to
the United States almost as soon as it
began.
That it failed, and the defeat of the
Tories at
King's Mountain took place, is due largely
to
Joseph MARTIN'S ability to persuade the
indians,
dominant among whom were the Cherokees who
were
his friends and relatives, not to aid the
British cause. his contribution was
recognized
by his associates and his superiors at the
time;
it is quite possible that Joseph MARTIN
would
today be looked onas one of the major
heroes of
the American Revolution had he operated in
a
more populous region where his deeds could
have
become more widely known, rather than on
the
remote and savage frontier, far from the
civilized centers of power and
communications.

Birth* 18 Sep 1740 Louisa Co., VA, USA.
Witness: __ ___ 1744 Co. Hist.: Albemarle Co., VA, USA;
Joseph's
son
William in his 1842 letter to DRAPER said
that
his father was "born in the year 1740 in
Albemarle Co., Virginia near
Charlottesville."
Albemarle Co wasn't formed until 1744 &
was
formed from Goochland & Louisa Cos.
War: __ ___ 1756 Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Joseph was
reared in a violent area, during violent
times,
he grew up "overgrown, rude, and
ungovernable",
a rowdy bullying roughneck who refused to
attend
school and who ran away from the carpenter
to
whom he had been apprenticed by his father
to
learn a trade. He and his friend Thomas
SUMTER
(of South Carolina fame) some time in
1756/57
made their way through the wilderness to
Fort
Pitt (Pittsburgh) and enlisted in the
Army.
Witness: bt 17561757 History: Fort Pitt [Pittsburgh], Allegheney
Co.,
PA, USA; Joseph was reared in a violent
area,
during violent times, he grew up
"overgrown,
rude, and ungovernable", a rowdy bullying
roughneck who refused to attend school and
who
ran away from the carpenter to whom he had
been
apprenticed by his father to learn a
trade.
He
and his friend Thomas SUMTER (of South
Carolina
fame) some time in 1756/57 made their way
through the wilderness to Fort Pitt
(Pittsburgh)
and enlisted in the Army.
Ann
MARTIN; and daughter Olive MARTIN.
Executors
were Isaac DAVIS and Thomas BURROS.